This invention relates to the field of diesel engines. More particularly, a Dual Filter System for Diesel Engines is provided which allows the continuous operation of the engine even when it is necessary to change the filter.
Diesel engines are manufactured by companies such as General Motors, Detroit, Fairbanks-Morse, Alco and others. Diesel engines require diesel fuel which much necessarily be filtered prior to the fuel being fed into the engine for combustion. Diesel engine blocks are made of steel. Fuel pumps supply diesel fuel by way of high pressure hoses from the fuel tanks. The fuel must first pass through the filter system and is then fed into the fuel injectors.
Today the most common type of filter is a two filter system which is partially covered by a site bowl. The purpose of the clear site bowl is to view the fuel and the filters. However, a major drawback of the current filter systems is that the diesel engine needs to be shut off in order to change either of the filters. On barges, for example, shutting off a diesel engine can cause quite an economic burden. This is particularly true during cold weather conditions where shutting off the engine would cause added hardship. It is desirable that most diesel engines used in barges and in other applications run continuously for months or even years. However, because the fuel filter systems currently in use require the engine to be shut down in order to change the filter, it has heretofore been impossible to run the engines as desired. It is an object of this invention to provide a diesel fuel system which allows the engine to be running when the filter or filters are being changed.
Another problem with the current filter system is that when the filters become plugged, line pressure can rise to the point where the site bowl disintegrates showering the engine room and occupants with glass and hot fuel at the rate of 4.5 gallons per minute. This, of course, poses a great danger of injury to the inhabitants of the engine room. There also have been numerous instances of engine room fires and other such calamitous results.
Utilizing the present system, a filter can be taken out and inspected while the engine is running and replaced if necessary. While the site bowl system required shutting the engine down to inspect the filters, this requirement is not present in the instant invention. It is another object of this invention to provide a diesel fuel filter system which allows the inspection of the filter without shutting the engine down and without the necessity of using a dangerous site glass.
Diesel engines are used in every tow boat and railroad locomotive. They are also used in power plants, generators and oil rigs in the United States, Canada and South America. While each particular diesel engine may have its own distinct physical requirements, the instant system is interchangeable with the other site glass filter systems now in use because the instant system uses the same mounting bolt pattern as the older systems. The instant invention can also be remotely mounted on the bulkhead or engine room wall in order to retrofit the new unit to existing engines. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a dual filter system which is readily interchangeable with the current, more dangerous systems now in use.
Other advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the below described Specification.
This new dual filter system comprises an upper block with identical left and right halves. The upper block right and left halves also contain lower right and left filters respectively. Fuel is fed into a central port and then to the right and left halves equally. The fuel in each half then circulates into the fuel filter, back up out of the fuel filter, through a one-way check valve, and back into a central fuel outlet port. Each half has a shutoff valve which enables the operator to shut off that half. When fuel is shut off to half of the system, the engine may still run utilizing the fuel fed from the other side. The existence of the one-way check valve prohibits fuel from the open side from running back through the closed side. Because one side may thus be completely shut off from a fuel supply, the fuel filter from that side may be removed, inspected, and replaced if necessary.